


What A Wonderful World

by QueenBumbleB33



Series: Audio Killed The Radio Star [1]
Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chapter 1 of IT, I'm Sorry, M/M, What Have I Done, because I love angst, but I needed to write it, i don't know how to tag, it's sad, no happy endings here, richie dies, this was uncalled for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 02:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13401639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenBumbleB33/pseuds/QueenBumbleB33
Summary: "I see friends shaking hands, saying 'How do you do?' They're really saying 'I love you...'"Richie Tozier was a good kid. He didn't seem like it at first glance, with his trash mouth usually taking over for him, but he really did have a heart of gold. The Losers knew better than anyone that Richie wanted to protect everyone he could, and they loved him for it. So why did it have to him that was taken away?





	What A Wonderful World

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY SO this is my first IT fic, so bear with me here. Basically, in this AU, Richie dies as a 13-year-old trash mouth during the fight at the end of the 2017 movie. I'm so sorry for this. Lots of mentions of blood and gore are mentioned, so if you're squeamish, then this isn't the story for you. If you're okay with it, then grab your tissues, be ready to be upset, and enjoy!
> 
> Also, I would like to point out this is mainly Stan, Eddie, and Bill centric. It's going through their friendship (and love) with Richie, with snippets of the fight scene scattered around. Everything in italics is what's going on currently! Near the end of the story, it's going back to the regular font for good as the events play out as normal, so keep that in mind!

_Everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. It, that vile creature, had its long arms clutching onto Bill whilst the other losers stood a few feet away, watching the situation playing out before them. "Leave.." Bill managed to wheeze out, his voice laced with regret and hopelessness, knowing that if the other Losers wouldn't leave, It would just take them too. But there was one person that Bill couldn't tear his hazel eyes away from: Richie. One of the closest friends he'd ever made. If anyone had a reason to leave Bill behind, it was Richie. And the glasses-clad boy made sure to list out all the reasons he could think of._

_"I told you, Bill... I fucking told you. I don't wanna die!" Richie shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's your fault. You punched me in the face... Made me walk through shitty water... Brought me to a fucking crackhead house!" Bill could feel It shift around, obviously a little angered by the comment. If the situation wasn't life-or-death, Bill would have laughed. "And now.." Right when Bill thought Richie was going to leave him behind, bring everyone else with him, he saw his pale arm extended and grab onto a baseball bat. Hope, just some hope, returned to Bill._

_"I'm going to have to kill this fucking clown."_

* * *

 If you were to ask Bill who the first friend he made was, it was Eddie. A small ball of anger ready to fight at every given moment, as long as his asthma didn't act out against him. Which, it often did. But then, if you were to ask who the second friend he made was, it would be Richie.

Second grade, one of the best grades of his life. It teetered on the border between just another grade to play in and actually doing work. It was a perfect balance, and Bill's 7-year-old mind wished it could be this way forever. There was one problem though: he got Mrs. Jalinski for a teacher, and Eddie got Mr. Linden. Great. They were separated, and Bill could either choose to go about his school year without making any friends in his class, or he could just man up and be friendly. While he was more inclined to take the first offer - stuttering over your words was more likely to get you laughed at than make friends - a little boy in the corner caught his eyes.

He seemed to be just as lonely as Bill did on this first day of school. Bill had seen him hop around excitedly for the first hour or so of school, trying to make friends, but ultimately failing altogether. Not many people could properly handle his obnoxiousness, even if they were all around the same age. Bill felt a pang of hurt in his chest as he watched this boy, with curly dark hair and glasses too big for his face, coloring alone in the corner. So, he made a decision and began to make his way over to the boy.

At first, the boy didn't even seem to notice him. He continued coloring, his scribbles making out to either be nonsense, a dragon, or a squid, with determination to finish. Bill watched him for a minute, before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Hey, y-yuh-you seem lonely ov-ve-er here. Why are you a-al-alone?" Curse him and his stutters!

The boy flinched a little bit, his big wide eyes magnified behind his thick lenses, but a smile split over his cheeks nearly immediately. "You talk funny."

Bill flushed in embarrassment. "And you di-did-didn't answer my que-qu-" He sucked in an annoyed breath, "question."

The boy just simply smiled wider. "My bestest best friend didn't stop going to first grade yet. He got sick a lot. His name is Stanley and he's a Jew." He said it like it was the most casual thing in the world. Bill didn't know the meaning of 'Jew', and frankly, he believed Richie didn't either. But if he took it so casually, why shouldn't Bill? "What about you?"

"M-Muh-My friend is in a different class than I am." Bill replied with a shrug, before asking, "What's your na-a-ame?"

"Oh! Almost forgot the pleasanties." The boy said, trying to sound smart. Bill had no idea what 'pleasanties' meant. "I'm Richard Mason Tozier! But Stanley calls me Richie for short. So you can do that too."

"Richie..." Bill repeated to himself, a happy smile of his own appearing on his lips. He liked the sound of it. "My name his B-Buh-Bill Denbrough. But E-heh-heddie calls me Bill."

"Well, B-Buh-Bill, it's nice to meet you!" Richie grinned and thrust a handful of crayons Bill's way. "Here, come color with me."

And he did.

* * *

 

_Stan could barely believe the sight he saw before his eyes. The pain on his face was immeasurable, but the only thing that could surpass that pain was the guilt in his heart as he watched Richie pace around, listing the things Bill had done. He knew that if he were in Richie's place, he would have "got the fuck out of dodge", in Richie's words, and left Bill behind. Yeah, it was a shitty thing to do and he knew that, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to die here, not now._

_But of course, Richie being Richie, he stood up for Bill. Stanley had always admired Richie for his courage, his courage to walk into Neibolt twice, to walk into the Barrens with Bill with no second thoughts, to stand up to Bowers when it counted. Stanley admired Richie, a lot of things about him. And he, undoubtedly, loved him more than anyone in his life._

_To watch Richie slam a metal bat into the face of a clown was surely a sight to see, and pride filled Stan's chest. If Richie could do this, Stanley surely could, facial wounds be damned. With his own bravery coursing through his veins, he charged forward with the rest of his friends to attack._

_He didn't know when it happened, the need to kill the god damn clown blinding his vision, but Richie managed to fall to the floor and not get back up. Nobody seemed to notice, but he continued to shout profanities and encouragements, which got weaker with every passing second. But of course, the losers failed to notice his voice died out, and his dirtied self not standing next to the rest of them while It dangled from the top of a large pit. Only when Pennywise finally fell to Its demise did Stanley look back, and horror and tears pooled in his eyes all at once as he shrieked, alerting the rest of the losers._

_Richie was lying on the ground, blood seeping from large scratch marks dragged up his abdomen._

* * *

 

If you asked Stanley when he fell in love, he'd respond with, "I've always loved him." If you asked when he could pinpoint it, he'd respond with a simple, "The exact moment Bill and Eddie fell in love with him."

Because, honestly, it was true.

The exact date was July 7th, 1987. Richie and Bill were 11, Stanley and Eddie were 10. 

The four boys had planned to meet each other at the Quarry, one of their favorite places to spend time. Stan and Eddie had met up at the Kaspbrak household, met Bill up at his house after he said goodbye to sweet little Georgie, and then went to the Tozier household. After being told that Richie had already left by Maggie, Richie's mother, the three decided to just meet Richie up there. They thought he just went to the corner store to grab some gum. So down the three boys biked, chatting aimlessly and enjoying the peace of not having to deal with stupid jokes from their Trashmouthed friend. 

Bill and Eddie haphazardly dumped their bikes in their specific bike-dumping spot, surprised to see Richie's rusty old bike laying there already. Stan, being the sensible one, kicked down the kickstand. When the bikes, their metal creating commotion, stopped moving, Stanley caught the sound of soft singing. Eddie, opening his mouth to ask what the hell that was, was quickly shut up by Stan slapping a hand over his lips. He'd never heard it before, and honestly, it was beautiful. Bill and Eddie must have agreed because they walked towards it like a siren was calling for them. Stanley did the only sensible thing and followed after them.

"I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself, 'What a wonderful world...'" Richie, that bastard, sang so softly, yet so passionately, that the three boys thought they had their friend mixed up with someone else. But no, it was Richie, with a bruise on his face given to him by Bowers earlier in the day. He had headphones on his head as he listened to music, Louis Armstrong's voice flowing into his ears and giving him the confidence he needed to sing, albeit he thought he was alone.

As Richie continued to croon, Stanley stole a glance at Bill and Eddie. Eddie was, for once, quiet, with no remark on how stupid this all was. He glanced over at Bill, who looked back at both Stanley and Eddie. Stanley could feel his heart pound in his ears as he stared back at Richie, barely processing Bill tugging him and Eddie backwards so they can act like they never saw Richie singing in his safe space.

Stanley Uris was in love with a boy who liked Louis Armstrong. He didn't quite know how he felt about that.

* * *

 If you asked Eddie what the saddest moment of his life was, he'd tell you it was right now. 

After hearing the ear-splitting shriek from Stan, everyone whipped their heads back to see what he was staring at. Eddie couldn't quite describe what he was feeling. Looking back on it, he knew he should have felt sad, or angry, or upset. No, he was just numb at the first glance at Richie, refusing to believe what he saw was real. Beverly, with her long, strong legs, got to Richie's body before anyone else did. "Richie? Trashmouth, come on, answer!"

A harsh cough ripped itself from Richie's throat, blood coming up with it and splattering onto the ground. "Woah, chill, not so loud..." He laughed weakly, the simple action he did every day causing him immense pain. Stanley, Bill, and Eddie stood in shock for a moment, while Ben and Mike made their way over to him. With Beverly barking quick orders at the both of them, Mike was instructed to grab any piece of cloth he could find from the large pile of toys in the center of the room while Ben was instructed to press said clothe against the bleeding wounds, applying as much pressure as he could without making Richie kick the bucket. 

Watching them move made Eddie kick into action, his little legs carrying him swiftly to the scene with Stan and Bill quickly trailing behind. His size was deceitful, as he shoved Ben aside with ease. "No, no, you're doing it wrong, this is wrong, he'll die and we'll have done nothing about it!" Eddie rambled on, regretting throwing his fanny pack away in the front yard of the Neibolt Street house. If he wasn't so stupid, he could be saving Richie, Richie wouldn't be dying-!

A soft hand grasped his own, and Eddie looked into Richie's eyes. And his heart shattered. Richie had a look of knowing in his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to make it out of the sewers alive. Stan seemed to notice it, too, as he let out a small sob while Mike held him, who was also fighting back tears.

Bill was the first to talk. "R-Ruh-Richie, wh-a-aht are w-we-we goi-go-going to d-do with-th-out y-yo-you..?" He muttered through the tears, grasping Richie's limp hand. The other boy just laughed softly, shaking his head. 

"For starters, you'll have to break it to Eddie's mom that our sessions have been cut short.." Nobody laughed. "Come on, not even one laugh? You're the toughest crowd I've ever faced.."

"Richie, you fucking moron!" Eddie sobbed, standing up with clenched fists. "This isn't some fucking joke! You're fucking  _dying_ in front of us and we can't do anything about it! Richie, you've been so important to us, and now you're fucking leaving us?! For good?! This is bullshit! And to top it all off, you make some joke about my mother!" Eddie's knees wobbled as he struggled to stand, Beverly's tear-stained hand grabbing his own. She must have been trying to get the tears to stop the whole time.

Richie, with a hand utterly soaked in blood, fixed his glasses and smeared the red onto the lenses. Stanley wanted to fix them, call Richie an idiot for getting them dirty, but he couldn't find it in him. He couldn't find anything in him anymore, the Richie's ripped skin visible through his blood-soaked stupid Hawaiian shirt. Richie let the hand fall back to his side. "Come on, Eddie Spaghetti, don't be like that.."

"Don't... Don't call me that.." Eddie whimpered, sniffling and not bothering to shout anymore. "You know how I.." He couldn't finish. There was no point. The last little bit of life Richie had clung onto was gone, Richie was gone, gone gone  _gone._

Someone, or maybe all of them, let out loud shrieking sobs.

_"Richie!"_

 

* * *

 

 

As life always does, life moved on without Richie in it. Bill had flat-out refused to leave Richie's corpse in the sewers ("He w-wuh-wouldn't like it and you fucking kn-o-ow that."), Mike offering to carry him out. Having to explain to the Tozier family that their only child was dead without revealing the existence of Pennywise was proven both difficult and painful to do. The group's dynamic was broken, their happy-go-lucky comic relief having left them for good. They split up only a month later, Beverly moving to Portland with her aunt, Bill leaving Derry for a vacation and never returning, and the others leaving Derry at their own pace. With the exception of Mike, who stayed back as everyone swore to come back and avenge Richard Tozier (and Georgie Denbrough and the other missing kids, of course) had Pennywise ever returned.

And avenge them they did. The cost was high, but they did it. Eddie and Stan didn't make it to see the end of Its terrifying reign, while Mike ended up in the hospital. Beverly and Ben left Derry soon after It's death to start a family of their own, leaving Bill to try and get Audra to come back from her comatose state. There was one thing that William Denbrough never forgot to do.

Leave flowers on a grave deep within Derry's Cemetary.

 

_Richard Tozier (1976 - 1989)_

_The Boy Of A Thousand Voices_

_Making people smile every day, even after death._

 

**Author's Note:**

> The story was a bit wonky, I know, and rushed, I know that too. But I honestly enjoyed how it came out, and I hope you did too! If you can't tell, I ship Stozier more than anything, but that's just my personal preference. I will try to write my IT fics much better in the future!


End file.
